Day 1 of IF in the books. I chose a 5-hour window from 5-10 p.m. Wasn't as hard as I imagined. Forgot I had a business lunch today, though, so I will probably be consuming a "smoothie" there. Not fooled by the promise of nutritional benefits, but I will fulfill my social eating obligation. <sigh>

So glad to hear it's worked / is working for you, Mandy. It's wonderful to see proof that it's a) doable and b) effective. It's also worth hearing that a small(ish) eating window is not a substitute for being calorie-aware.

Mandy and LaurieDawn: What is IF? If you don't mind me asking?

Mandy: You're lucky you can lose weight on 1800 calories. At 53, I don't lose unless I'm around 1200. The bright side is that 1200 doesn't seem like so little to me-- whereas when I was younger I could not manage on that little. The first two weeks, I was starving, but now I'm used to it.

Diane: for your viewing pleasure. Here's a picture of me from a couple of years ago. My weight was in the upper 180s and I am wearing an XL exercise shirt and XL pants. So you can see how kick butt you must look to be into a size L! I'm thinking of you and looking at this picture to try to motivate me to start exercising now.

So, the good news is the bounce is gone. The bad news is that weigh in is tomorrow and I've lost ZERO lbs this week. I REALLY hope the scale moves tomorrow, because if it doesn't, I'll be frustrated. Still and all, tomorrow is 1 month and I'm down 13 for the month, which I know is good.

Uber: IF is intermittent fasting. It just means you consume your calorie allotment in a 6-8 hour window and fast for the rest of the day. I usually have mine from 2-10 or 3-11... basically my "don't eat after this time" is 8 hours after my first food of the day. I keep all my calories in that 8 hour window, and only have water before and after. It means I can eat a mostly worry free (I usually allow about 800-1000 calories) dinner with my husband at the end of the day, without forcing him into a low calorie life style that he doesn't need. He fends for himself for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. I dunno, I may be doing it wrong, but that's the impression I got when I read about it and thought it would fit me well, since I'm rarely hungry in the morning anyway. There's also the 5:2 method which I believe is you set a weekly calorie goal, and have 2 days of the week at 500 (fasting) and then the other 5 days are divvied up between deficit and surplus to total your weekly goal, so you can have high and low days, basically calorie cycling. Which is good, if you've got a lot going on and need extra calories some days. (example, if you want to average 1200 calories, you'd have a weekly allotment of 8400 calories, your fast days would be at 500, your deficit days (say, 2) would be at 1200, and your 3 surplus days would be 1600-1700, for a total of 8400)... Though, that's just my impression of 5:2, and I could be completely wrong on that, too.

TL;DR: It means you fast most of the day, and only eat your calories in a specific time window.

Thanks Mandy. That's interesting as it's close to what I do anyway. I have coffee with steamed milk for breakfast (122 calories for a cup of 2% milk.) Then I eat lunch and dinner. No snacks. So I eat food twice, at noon and around 6 pm....but I'm sure once I drop a few more pounds and start exercising, I'm going to be too hungry to skip breakfast.

I stumbled across IF when looking for weight lifting recommendations and advice. I don't know how many weight lifters do it, but I know at least some do. I am only on day 2, and I had a small ice cream cone for lunch (much fewer calories than the "smoothie," and neither one is nutritionally optimal), so I haven't been "pure" today. I am quite hungry, but I'm finding that the hunger is tolerable, at least for now. And I'm getting in my fluid, and very productive during my non-eating time.

Oops. Diane! Sorry! I just saw your post about grilling the drumsticks.

I love grilled chicken, but I don't like grilling them with the bone in, because I either manage to over cook them, or they end up still being raw next to the bone. I haven't mastered the bone-in cuts of chicken yet. Boo.

Hi all! Once again I have been gone for a few days and need to get caught up reading the thread before I respond to everyone. My last post I was loopy from being up all night with the car accident outside my house. That was followed by a week of working late, a second night up with commotion outside when one of there was apparently an explosion at the high tension power lines near our house. After that I woke up sick on Thursday and have been down for the count. Guess 6 weeks of travel and one week of drama finally caught up with me. I swear my life is like a tv show sometimes.

Anyway I'm finally starting to feel better. Good news is I'm down. 8 lbs... I'm still in my '15lb yoyo zone' so I'm on eggshells for 7 more lbs but I'll take it! This week I have to stay in the city wed-fri for a combined show opening and mini conference. I'm going in prepared. I've brought breakfast and lunches for every day that can stay in my office. I have access to the hotel gym and am rooming with a friend who will also work out. Also since the hotel is across the street from my venue no 1.5 hour commute for me which is nice. I have one big dinner out which is my plan for the one thing to 'enjoy' without going overboard. I brought one dinner for the office and then I only need to survive the 2 cocktail parties. Avoiding the alcohol will be easy,... I've been sick and drinking won't help that. And I'm just going to try to avoid any food on trays that isn't a raw vegetable.

Ok I'll read up and get caught up on everyone's week ASAP. Good to be back and returning to health! Hope everyone has been awesome!

Welcome back, SunnyMac. I have sort of crashed this little thread since you last posted, but I'm glad to see you're back and feeling better. I hate the highly available free food. That's the hardest thing to avoid.

I'm on Day 3 of IF. Yesterday was hard, as I had a meeting go really long, so I didn't eat anything (besides the lunchtime ice cream cone) until 8:00, and I was starving, starving. Then, I tried to get in all my daily calories in a short time frame, and became uncomfortably full. This is going to take some getting used to. =) But it feels like a good choice. I get to sit across from my husband and eat like a "normal" person. Woot!

Uber: Thanks for sharing the picture. You look great in that picture, what a motivation! Now, I guess I should clarify that the large shirts are also a knit fabric, so they do have give to them. And, I went with the large because I plan to keep losing. If I was just going to have them to wear normally, I probably would have gone with the XL. But, I wore one yesterday to Spin and one to Body Pump today, and I think they were good. It felt great to have them on!

SunnyMac: Welcome back! Hope things settle down a little bit for you!

Mandy: Yep, that sounds like a winning recipe! You'll have to let us know how it goes!

LaurieDawn: Oh, that would have been tough making it that long while you're feeling so hungry! But good for you for making it through! I'm impressed!

I hopped on the scale this morning because I was so disappointed in yesterday's weigh in. I went down a pound from yesterday and I didn't really try to change anything. I am at the time when it would have been my TOM, but I don't think it is coming this month. Maybe I am fluctuating because of those issues. Oh joy.

Good afternoon all! I'm about to do my "mid-week" weigh in. Weighing twice a week is sort of my compromise between once a week weighing and the constant wonder, and the daily weighing that leads to a bit of obsession. Fingers crossed for a good number!

Sunny - Welcome back! Hope you are rested and feeling better. You should have one of those reality shows that they air on TLC or some such about people with crazy lives.

Laurie: YIKES! I've done the occasional 24 hour fast (I'm thinking of throwing it in once a week) where I go from 8pm to 8pm the following day without eating, and then doing a regular dinner. It's hard. But you eventually adjust. My body knows when the food is coming, and I don't start getting hunger cues until shortly before I've got plans to eat. So it *does* get easier. I promise! If you end up going longer than you anticipate and have a hard time with your calories... Don't stress about eating them all. One day low isn't gonna make or break. You can always eat a little higher the next day to compensate. Many people do that... Work on a weekly deficit, instead of a daily, and have high and low days through the week.

Diane - Being a woman is *so* much fun... I'll be sure to report my findings. I think I'll be making it tomorrow, because the drumsticks aren't completely thawed yet. Fish for dinner tonight. My favorite baked tilapia dish. Mmm.

Fera: good luck with the weigh in!
Diane: Boy do I wish I looked as good now as I did in that picture. But it does REMIND me how awesome it felt to be that fit. I'm ready to add in a fitness component.
Sunny: sounds like you've been through a lot. Good for you for sticking with it in spite of everything. I love the expression "fifteen pound yo-yo zone". Boy do I know what you mean!!!!! Since my regain, my yo-yo zone has always stopped at 260. Boy am I looking forward to pushing below that. That's when I'll know I'm actually getting somewhere.

Laurie: I was STARVING for the first two weeks but now I am definitely getting used to my new plan. I'm like Fera-- my body will reset and start to expect when to demand food.

So for me. Down one this week. So, I lost 5 the first two weeks. Two the third week, and one now. Sigh. On the other hand I went out, had a big birthday dinner, jumped right back on board and still posted a loss, so I'm calling it a win. 14 total for my first month is NOT BAD. Headed for that first mini-goal of 260. Since the giant regain of 2012 I've never gone lower than that.

EDITED: I'M ACTUALLY DOWN TWO! I just didn't look at my ticker properly.

My weigh in wasn't what I was hoping for, but wasn't off by much. I was hoping for a 1-1.2lb drop, and got 0.8. But, I guess I can't be upset (and really, I'm not, because still... it was a loss and I've been going hard on the sodium the last couple days LOL). But, it also put my weight at 309.6, which means I've lost 10 pounds for the month (already, with a week left!) and it also means I should *finally* be back in the 200s by the end of next month.

been a long time since I have posted. I poke around making sure all is well but haven't been active in a while. In 2011 I lost 110 lbs. in 2012 I got a new job that I absolutely hated. I gained back a lot of weight quickly. Then the job got better but by then I was already back in my bad habits full swing. I have gained almost every pound back. I have been trying for almost a year to get back into the groove. I am having a little bit of success but need more!. I have done this before and I can do it again. I am not ready to admit numbers, but welcome your support!

Kudos to you for getting back to it! Welcome to our little corner. I like it better than the "graduation" threads where you go from this "decade" to that, and don't really get support from the same people. This group fits my "support" needs and I will be happy to be a cheerleader, a butt-kicker, or a sympathizer as is necessary through the process.

I lost 50 pounds about 4 years ago and then went through a down sizing at work then on to nursing school. I just graduated and have gained all my weight back + 20 pounds so I am also looking for motivational support. I know how to do it is just getting back into a routine and getting my system cleaned out so the cravings go away.
We can do this